The card may have lost a few stars along the way but tonight’s Bellator 79 lineup is still ripe with entertainment value including a pair of semifinal fights. Headlined by a heavyweight tilt between Rich Hale and Thiago Santos, the show also pits Mike Richman against Shahbulat Shamhalaev in 145-pound action and features appearances from Douglas Lima as well as Ryan Ford.

The winner of the Hale-Santos scrap will go on to face either Vincius Queiroz or Alexander Volkov for the right to be named Bellator champion in the wake of previous title-holder Cole Konrad’s retirement. Likewise, either Richman or Shamhalaev will see action down the road against the victor of a match-up between Wagnney Fabiano/Rad Martinez with one man eventually emerging to challenge for the featherweight title.

Things kick off on Spike.com at 7:00 PM EST with MTV2/EPIX taking over an hour later. As always, Five Ounces of Pain will be tuned in and relaying results back to our readers as things unfold in real time.